The Northern Lights

Yesterday, Sat. July 26th, was another stunning day, both weather-wise and in terms of the scenery. I had earlier mentioned to you that John and Margaret Burnley offered to take me to the northern parts of Skye. Well, they picked me up, yesterday, and took me to see some breath-taking scenes. (You might want to Google Skye to get a feel for where we went.)

Our route took us first to Uig. Uig is where people go to pick up the ferry when they want to go to the outer Hebrides. Coming up on A87 when you round the bend, you get this picture of a most idyllic scene. The water is dark blue and the mountain landscapes create an unforgettable picture. Houses line the slopes that bend down toward the water.

As you move up the mountain and look back, the change in perspective causes you to think that you are leaving a place that you really didn’t see or that you didn’t visit. But, that is not unlike so many of the places here on Skye. The placement of clouds, the degree of sunshine, a movement up or down in elevation completely changes the visual impact of a sight. Moving away from that location we arrived at the “Monk-stadt.” It is the ruins of a monastery formed by St. Columba in 1400. He is said to be the first one to bring Christianity to Skye. And, not far from that place is the farmhouse where Dora MacDonald hid Bonnie Prince Charles from the authorities in early 1740’s. There are so many different versions of the prince…it reminds me of all the fables that surround someone like Daniel Boone.

Further along on A87, after passing through Balgown, Kilmiur, Bornisketaig, Kilmaluag (the most northern community on Skye) and Digg, we came to Staffin which is the largest community on the northern part of Skye. The mountains, locks, and ocean were breathtaking and, hopefully, never to forgotten beauty. “The whole earth is full of His glory.” If you were to follow the road on south, it would take you into Portree, but we took the one of the narrow, one lane tracks back across the peninsula that ends back at Uig. As you start across the peninsula, there is a peak that is probably 600 ft. off the road that you can climb up and get the most spectacular view. It is not a bad climb because it is on an continuing slope of about 45 degrees. I think God made it like that so that people could get the view. I didn’t even take a picture knowing that my camera would not come close to capturing the sight.

We drove back to the Burnley’s home and had tea and scones…eat your heart out…home-made fruit scones...yummmmmmmm! Diabetics are allowed a little fun, every now and then, ha! John is a very accomplished amateur photographer. He has some remarkable equipment that has allows him to do remarkable development of his pictures. I am hopeful that he will sell me some of his work. They have one of the most creative flower gardens I have, yet, seen.









------- Started Sunday… is now being finished Monday morning…the 28th. (Just 12 days, Linda)

Well, today is beginning to look like the most sun-filled day since I have been here. There is not a cloud or haze in the sky. What am I doing here…other than the fact that I am three or four days behind on my blog…I don’t know!! It’s the animal in the beast. (That doesn’t sound right…does it?) Someone help me out here.

Well, I am off to the library to post these blogs, so I will say, “Cheerio”.